Category: Uncategorised

Case Study 3 : Assessing learning and exchanging feedback

Assessments in an age of Generative AI

Contextual Background 

We are currently revalidating the BA Fine Art course at Chelsea, a process where we rewrite the course for the next 10 years. With the rapid development of Generative AI (GenAI) tools, such as Chat GPT, I wonder what assessment models will still be relevant in a decade?

GenAI is increasingly used by the students on the BA FA course to generate their work, which isn’t in and of itself a problem, notwithstanding the huge environmental impact [Bashir et al (2024)]. In the context of climate crisis, the environmental impact does demand an ethical and critical engagement with these tools.

Evaluation 

I try to make these hidden environmental impacts visible by discussing this research in Year meetings. The aim is to support students in making ethical and sustainable decisions in relation to their interactions with GenAI.  I also draw attention to UAL’s clear policy (UAL 2024), which states “You may not use AI to generate your work unaltered that you submit for assessment as if it was your own work” and any use of AI must be cited and labelled as AI generated.

Despite this policy, my team and I regularly have students, especially in the case of essays, claim what we suspect are GenAI authored texts as their own. Tools like TurnItIIn have much more limited effectiveness than they claim [see AlAfnan (2023)].

GenAI content is produced by myriad machine-led decision-making processes that are entirely unknowable on part of the student (or indeed the technologists who created them) [see Beales (2018)]. If the purpose of assessments is to help students to develop an understanding of quality [Sadler (1989)], then the circumventing of the assessment process through the submission of work by GenAI completely defeats the point.

Moving forwards 

I am interested in exploring two avenues in response:

  1.  Integrating self-assessment

Race (2001) proposes a series of questions to support self-assessment which I have included here:

• What do you think is a fair score or grade for the work you have handed in?

• What was the thing you think you did best in this assignment?

• What was the thing that you think you did least well in this assignment?

• What did you find the hardest part of this assignment?

• What was the most important thing you learned in doing this assignment? [Ibid p.15]

These questions elicit higher-level thinking and reflection skills that are situated in the subjective experience of individual students and might help illuminate any academic malpractice in terms of GenAI usage. I am intending to experiment with these as part of our Unit 7 assessments in May 2025.

  • In-person assessment

There has been some discussion of the potential of using more Vivas as assessment points in response to GenAI [Dobson (2023)] but there are complications in the context of widespread social anxiety. In Y2, we are proposing informal in-person assessments and terming these ‘Studio Visits’. Within a ‘Studio Visit’, tutors would visit the student’s studio space to reflect on work in progress as well as finished pieces. This parallels real-world experiences of interested curators or collectors coming to visit an artist in their studio. During the Studio Visit, a conversation would take place between tutor and student which would seek to draw out the 5 areas of the Level 5 UAL marking matrix.

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References 

AlAfnan, M.A. and MohdZuki, S.F. (2023). Do Artificial Intelligence Chatbots Have a Writing Style? An Investigation into the Stylistic Features of ChatGPT-4. Journal of Artificial Intelligence and Technology, 3(3). doi.org/10.37965/jait.2023.0267.

Bashir, N. et al. (2024) ‘The Climate and Sustainability Implications of Generative AI’, An MIT Exploration of Generative AI [Preprint]. doi:10.21428/e4baedd9.9070dfe7.

Beales, Katriona in conversation with William Tunstall-Pedoe (2019), Unintended Consequences? In: Interface Critique Journal 2. Eds. Florian Hadler, Alice Soiné, Daniel Irrgang. DOI: 10.11588/ic.2019.2.66989

Beckingham, S, Lawrence, J, Powell, S, & Hartley, P (eds) 2024, Using Generative AI Effectively in Higher Education : Sustainable and Ethical Practices for Learning, Teaching and Assessment, Taylor & Francis Group, Oxford. Available from: ProQuest Ebook Central. [Accessed 14 March 2025]

Dobson, S. (2023). Why universities should return to oral exams in the AI and ChatGPT era. [online] The Conversation. Available at: https://theconversation.com/why-universities-should-return-to-oral-exams-in-the-ai-and-chatgpt-era-203429. [Accessed 15 March 2025]

Race, Phil (2001) LTSN Generic Centre A Briefing on Self, Peer and Group Assessment

Sadler, D.R. (1989). Formative assessment and the design of instructional systems. Instructional Science, [online] 18(2), pp.119–144. Available at: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/BF00117714.

UAL (2024). Student guide to generative AI. [online] UAL. Available at: https://www.arts.ac.uk/about-ual/teaching-and-learning-exchange/digital-learning/ai-and-education/student-guide-to-generative-ai.[Accessed 15 March 2025]

Case Study 2 : Planning and teaching for effective learning

Teaching in an Age of Anxiety

Contextual Background 

Part of the landscape of teaching practice with my cohort of nearly 160 BA Fine Art 2nd Year (2Y) students is anxiety. This impacts on students’ attendance, learning and well-being. As a necessity, strategies for alleviating anxiety need to be integrated into any planning for teaching to be effective.

Evaluation 

Anxiety is of particular concern within H.E. Davies (2025) summarises, “Universities appear to have become especially conducive to anxiety disorders, with full-time students more likely to report them” [ibid p.13]. This is compounded by the fine art context in which teaching is characterized as “a pedagogy of ambiguity where skills are not simply competencies, but the ability to operate in the complexities of uncertainty” [Austerlitz et al (2008) p.125].

There are systemic drivers behind this epidemic of anxiety, but within my role as 2nd Year Leader I need to focus on changes I can affect on a local level. I have focused on my own training and undertaken a Mental Health First Aider course. Whilst useful, the course isn’t H.E. specific and doesn’t take into consideration in-balances of power and the way mechanisms of assessment add stress to student-staff interactions.

One strategy I have tried, is to make myself accessible to students outside of teaching to help alleviate anxiety. For example, I run an Open Office every week at the same time. I offer tea and coffee, snacks and a listening ear. The Open Office has become an effective mechanism for catching a wide range of students’ anxieties before they become overwhelming, enabling me to signpost students to relevant support.

Moving forwards 

3 areas to develop in terms of the culture and ethos of 2Y:

Staying with the Trouble

I need to build a community on 2nd Year that is trying to find ways of locating ourselves within complexity, rather than trying to climb out of it. There is no outside from the complex and multi-layer crises that face these students. As such rather than offer simplistic non-solutions, “…Staying with the trouble requires learning to be truly present, not as a vanishing pivot between awful or edenic pasts and apocalyptic or salvific futures but as mortal critters entwined in myriad unfinished configurations of places, times, matters, meanings.” [Harraway (2016) p.1]

Making Kin

I believe peer support networks are one of the strongest protective factors I can offer my students, and we encourage the students to work collectively e.g. developing collective exhibitions. I can be more intentional about creating social opportunities where the cohort mixes and gets to know each other. This is about embedding small gestures e.g. making sure that every tutor integrate into all their sessions ice-breaker activities. “The task is to make kin in lines of inventive connection.” [Harraway (2016) p.1]

Cultures of Celebration

I want to develop a culture of celebration amongst staff and students, and an obvious opportunity is around the Y2 Exhibitions, particularly the Private View events. Supporting student programmes of performances during these events can add vitality. As Solnit (2016) writes in relation to finding energy to continue climate activism; “Much has changed; much needs to change; being able to celebrate or at least recognize milestones and victories and keep working is what the times require of us.” [ibid p.140]

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References 

Austerlitz, Noam, Blythman, Margo, Grove-White, Annie, Jones, Barbara Anne, Jones, Carol An, Morgan, Sally, Orr, Susan, Shreeve, Alison and Vaughn, Suzi (2008) Mind the gap: expectations, ambiguity and pedagogy within art and design higher education. In: Drew, Linda, (ed.) The Student Experience in Art and Design Higher Education: Drivers for Change. Cambridge, Jill Rogers Associates Limited, pp. 124-148

Davies, W. (2025). Another Age of Anxiety: Psychological Distress and the ‘Asset Economy’. Theory, Culture & Society. doi:https://doi.org/10.1177/02632764251316403.

‌Haraway, D. (2016). Staying with the Trouble: Making Kin in the Chthulucene. Durham: Duke University Press.

Solnit, R. (2016). Hope in the Dark : Untold histories, Wild Possibilities. Edinburgh: Canongate Books.

Case Study 1 : Know and Respond to Your Students’ Diverse Needs

Supporting Students with Autism Assistance dogs

Contextual Background

We have around 160 students in 2nd Year on the BA Fine Art at Chelsea. Many of these students are neurodiverse, as am I, and some have additional needs. I want to focus this case study on supporting students with Autism Assistance dogs.

Evaluation 

Autism Assistance dogs are specifically trained to support people with Autism. The type of support the dog offers varies according to the specific needs of the person they are trained to support, but can include things like medication reminders, interrupting self-harm, and deep pressure therapy to help emotional regulation (Short, ND). All Assistance dogs are welcomed on site at UAL as part of the university’s obligations under the Equalities Act 2010 (UAL 2023). Supporting students to attend college with their Assistance Dog is a reasonable adjustment and a key part of my role as Year Leader in providing an inclusive environment for Neurodiverse and Disabled students.

Moving forwards 

I have observed first-hand how Assistance Dogs can help students negotiate high levels of social anxiety [see Majka (2023)] and navigate challenges in engaging with social situations which would otherwise cause high levels of stress. This has made a profound difference to some students lives so I am committed to making it as easy as possible for students working with assistance dogs to be integrated into the course.

Specifically, within the context of the BA Fine Art I will make sure that any student with an assistance dog is in a centrally located part of the studios, close to lifts and on a lower floor for ease of access for both students and assistance dogs. I have prioritised finding students with Assistance Dogs quieter areas of the studios, for example in the corner, and together with the student agreed set working days when most other students are not in to ensure a quieter working environment.

Assistance dogs are not pets and when they are wearing their official ‘bib’ are in work mode – solely focused on supporting their individual. I will brief the rest of the student body in part of a Year meeting on how to interact with Assistance Dogs, to not pet them or distract them and to focus on communicating with the individual student. I will follow up this briefing with the same information in an email to the whole student cohort.

I am also aware of some of the cultural sensitivities around dogs. For example, dogs can be understood as ‘haram’ within Islam [Nia (2022)]. I will also introduce this as a concept to the students’ with Assistance Dogs so that they are also aware of potential different attitudes towards dogs within the student body. 

In a broader sense, I would like to work towards integrating a hybrid approach that understands engagement rather than in-person participation as attendance. As a student comments in ‘Three months to make a difference’ (2020), in support of hybrid models of engagement, any attendance online or in person should be understood as attendance. This is a different approach to the current UAL attendance policy which stress in-person attendance on-site, but this needs to change to be more fully inclusive.

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References

Note: there is limited published research about this within HE.  

‌‘Health and Safety Guidance: Assistance dogs on site’ UAL policy (2023) https://www.arts.ac.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0025/414682/Assistance-Dogs-on-Site-H-and-S-Guidance-July-2023-v3.pdf [Accessed 28 Feb. 2025].

Short, Abigail ‘Dog’s special skills’ (ND) Autism Dogs CIC. [online] Available at: https://www.autismdogs.co.uk/our-service/special-skills [Accessed 28 Feb. 2025].

Majka, Georgia Jean, (2023)  “NEURODIVERGENT COLLEGE STUDENTS AND THERAPY DOGS IN HIGHER EDUCATION” (2023). Theses and Dissertations. 3127. https://rdw.rowan.edu/etd/3127

Nia (2022). Are Dogs Really Haram in Islam? – Muslim Girl. [online] Muslim Girl. Available at: https://muslimgirl.com/are-dogs-really-haram-in-islam/ [Accessed 18 Mar. 2025].

‘Three Months To Make A Difference – Key areas of challenge for disabled students requiring urgent action from institutions and policy makers in HE’ (2020) Published by Advance HE on behalf of the Disabled Students’ Commission, an initiative funded by the Office for Students. (n.d.). Available at: https://www.advance-he.ac.uk/knowledge-hub/three-months-make-difference [Accessed 28 Feb. 2025].

Review of Teaching: Katriona Beales observed by Mike McShane

Session/artefact to be observed/reviewed:

Seminar 26th February 2025.

Size of student group: 8

Observer: Mike McShane

Observee: Katriona Beales

Part One

Observee to complete in brief and send to observer prior to the observation or review:

Katriona:

What is the context of this session/artefact within the curriculum?

This is a planned seminar for half of my existing tutor group, joined by some visiting students from NAFA, Singapore who are here on exchange. The (NAFA) students have been invited to give presentations to the group as an introduction with the hope that it encourages genuine exchange and interactions between the different student groups. The seminar also needs to give some direction for the Chelsea students who are engaged in planning for their OffSite Projects which are happening from the 10th March.

How long have you been working with this group and in what capacity?

These students have been in my tutor group since the beginning of the academic year in September 2024. I am their Tutor Group Leader and also Year Leader.

What are the intended or expected learning outcomes?

  • To introduce the visiting NAFA students and facilitate some introductory conversations
  • To support the development of the Chelsea students OffSite Projects with key theoretical ideas around site and audience.

What are the anticipated outputs (anything students will make/do)?

  • NAFA students presentations x 3
  • Reflective and critical response to presentations
  • Theoretical discussion
  • Planned plasticene response

Are there potential difficulties or specific areas of concern?

  • The NAFA and Chelsea students haven’t met before
  • Cross-cultural dynamic – lack of knowledge of Singaporean context and vice versa.
  • Context of Chelsea curriculum – there is some key work to do to support the OffSite Projects development and it is a bit out of context to have NAFA students present for this since they aren’t directly involved.
  • Balancing different needs of NAFA and Chelsea students

How will students be informed of the observation/review?

I will introduce Mike and his role at the beginning.

What would you particularly like feedback on?

I am keen to develop all aspects of my teaching practice.

How will feedback be exchanged?

In conversation and via this form.

Part Two

Observer to note down observations, suggestions and questions:

Mike:

Account

  • Very Friendly atmosphere, personable, helping students through stresses on the course
  • Getting each student to introduce themselves in a very friendly way.
  • Ask students to present their work and then for other students to make notes and share feedback.
  • Creation of a friendly atmosphere. Asks for feedback notes from peers. Offers Artists for students to look at.
  • Makes jokes and allows space for students to discuss ideas without a ‘teacher’ presence.
  • Phone doesn’t work to find reference, offers to send it on after session.
  • Tech is all set up and very helpful in helping students prepare their presentations
  • Asks for thoughts and reflections
  • Engages in a very interesting conversation with the NAFA students and offers great feedback e.g. ‘Critique by enacting fully’
  • Minority spaces vs gentrification,
  • Projection onto student to engage in queer scenes could be misconstrued but obviously intended kindly. [KB: this was in reference to them self-identifying as queer in their presentation]
  • Initiated very interesting conversation about differences between Singapore and UK encouraged dialogue between student groups
  • Really good at including and incorporating NAFA students into wider conversation

Site and audience in relation to offsite project

  • Give handouts of two quotes, one by Constant Dullart in relation to audience; one by Miwon Kwon in relation to site.  
  • Asks students to read out quotes
  • Asks students if they know what everything means, goes through the meaning of the quote.
  • Asks for a summary from students to be discussed
  • Discussion around “Activating ‘Art’ – what happens to an artwork when it is taken out of the whitecube?
  • Frames quote nicely in relation to the offsite projects that are coming up, and to consider the code and lexicon of the space that people occupy or show in. Asks how this might inform students offsite proposals/ frame their work/ and to discuss their proposal ideas with peers
  • Good at remembering student names.
  • Encouraging for NAFA students to include them.
  • Asks about engagement with the audience. Creates a discussion about art’s intention in relation to the audience. Framed within the context of social media and contemporary society.
  • Excellent description of Michael Fried, loved the other quote
  • Impressive amount of discussion generated from two quotes, very talented at teasing out connections between students without imposing onto them.

Summary

Considering how you had to incorporate NAFA exchange students at the last minute to your session and how ill you had been prior (and to an extent during) the session I don’t think you could have run it any better.

I was especially inspired by your attentiveness to students’ needs throughout the session and the level to which you made sure they had each individually understood an idea, this you then further supplemented by encouraging discussion and debate about ideas in an incredibly relaxed atmosphere that felt very safe to exchange knowledge and ideas.

Your use of humour throughout the session created an incredibly relaxed atmosphere. I would love to have seen how you would have incorporated this way of working into a more practical workshop using the plasticine.

It was particularly interesting to hear how you let go of the more making part of your workshop, in favour of giving the NAFA students more time to talk and discuss things with other Y2 students. I know from working with NAFA students over the last few years that they have often felt isolated and separate from the wider course, so it was amazing to see them so included.

I wonder if the Chelsea students had had to present to the NAFA students as well if more conversations and exchanges could have happened. I realise after the session this happened as students began chatting together, but it could have been interesting to have seen NAFA students feeding back to the Chelsea students in an act of reciprocation.

I would have really liked to have seen how the different students could have worked on an idea together in a physical way. From personal experience I know that some students struggle to retain ideas without having engaged in a material or creative process to encapsulate that idea: Some kind of tangible ephemera or enacted process as an embodied reminder or rehearsal of the concepts and ideas discussed to retain the new information. I realise that you ran out of time to do this in order to accommodate NAFA students. I just personally would have loved to have seen how you would have applied your humour, kindness and methodology to that type of teaching.

Finally, I was most impressed by the way you stepped back whilst they were most intensely discussing ideas, to set up the next step of the presentation to frame everything within their projects, and then to check in with how they are all doing on the offsite projects. The timing of when to be present leading and when to step back and allow students the space to engage with each other without a ‘teacher’ present is a real skill, especially in relation to the pacing of a session. I massively respected the way you used that space to prepare yourself for the next stage of the workshop so that by the time they finished discussing you were completely ready to take the lead again. Your pacing and ownership of the gaps in time was a true inspiration to me.

Observations

  • Amazing at leading students into discussing ideas together.
  • Fantastic for incorporating NAFA students so effortlessly into the group and dialogue.
  • Really good at framing discursive text on site specificity within the context of what they are doing and where they are at in the course.
  • Really good at creating a personable atmosphere where students are comfortable to share ideas your use of humour, to create a relaxed atmosphere proved very conducive to co-operation and sharing
  • Really good at checking in to see how they are all getting on with their individual projects

Difficult to answer these 2 as I feel like I am forcing things to fit the matrix and that how the session played out was the best way for it to naturally happen given the circumstances

Questions

  • What would you have done with the plasticine with them?
  • Are the NAFA students incorporated into offsite projects?
  • Do Chelsea student present to NAFA students at all?
  • Is there a way to improve attendance? – Also, aware how the students who don’t attend are the ones who are struggling most and that this is a much wider issues?

Suggestions

  • More cross over/ symmetry between exchange and home students in terms of cooperation – although I am also aware of how limited the time is – it was nevertheless exciting to listen to the students from both discussing ideas and work together after the session had finished- avenues of potential collaboration between students? It could have been interesting to see the home students
  • More humour! Humour seems to be central to how you create a relaxed atmosphere that is so conducive to students exchanging ideas. I wonder if there would be a session to incorporate that into a making session with them.
  • I would have really liked to have seen how you incorporated the plasticine into the session
  • Fleetingness of discussion

Part Three

Observee to reflect on the observer’s comments and describe how they will act on the feedback exchanged:

Katriona:

It’s very useful to have Mike’s very detailed, attentive and encouraging account of my teaching in the context of this seminar. I really appreciate the elements that Mike has teased out here, particular around the challenges of integrating students from NAFA into the session.

I was balancing two different agendas in this session and was unsure how the need to host and welcome the NAFA students would balance with the need to prepare the Chelsea students for their OffSite Projects. I think Mike’s suggestion of the Chelsea students doing their own presentation would be excellent to take on. I would just need to take into consideration how many of my Chelsea students really dislike making presentations and would find them stressful, but there are ways to alleviate this. I wonder if I could make time for them to do informal ones, in which they could summarise their plans for the OffSite Projects in a more informal presentation style.

I also am struck by how much Mike commented on the element of humour in the session, and the way he understood this as contributing towards a relaxed environment. This is quite instinctual and not something I was actively aware of, more a kind of learnt behaviour in a teaching context where people are meeting for the first time. One thing I am conscious of is actively dethroning or at least problematising the hallowed status of the academic or professor, and I think being humorous has a serious role to play in allowing students to have a different type of engagement with their tutor that isn’t overly serious or heavy. I want to put some more conscious thought into this, aware too of the challenges it can pose in terms of sensitives around what is deigned humorous and how this can manifest in a nuanced way.

Things I am going to consider moving forwards:

Humour as a deliberate strategy to disrupt hierarchies, create community, alleviate stress and increase enjoyment.

Review of Teaching : Katriona Beales observed by Kwame Bah

Session/artefact to be observed/reviewed:

2nd Year BA Fine Art Year meeting – Mon 12noon 24th Feb 2025

Access recording: https://ual.cloud.panopto.eu/Panopto/Pages/Viewer.aspx?id=f32aedf6-aeb1-49a1-a2f7-b26100a071d6&start=126.367567

Size of student group: around 80 (though open to the whole year group of 150)

Observer: Kwame Baah

Observee: Katriona Beales

Part One

Observee to complete in brief and send to observer prior to the observation or review:

What is the context of this session/artefact within the curriculum?

The Year meetings are a weekly slot, taking place most Mondays at 12noon in the Lecture Theatre. They provide a way of unpacking what can be a complex timetable, as well as going through Unit briefs, assessments and the particular aspects of quite complex elements of the course – in this instance the supporting the students’ self-organisation of their OffSite Projects.

How long have you been working with this group and in what capacity?

I have been in post since September as the Year Leader for 2nd Year.

What are the intended or expected learning outcomes?

The purpose of the Year meetings is to support clear communication, that the students understand what is expected of them and where to find resources and information to support their engagement with the course.

What are the anticipated outputs (anything students will make/do)?

There aren’t specific outputs expected from the Year meetings, but I often measure engagement in terms of % attendance and also participation in the more discursive aspects of the meeting. I always make time for student voices as part of these meetings.

Are there potential difficulties or specific areas of concern?

I have been off ill and missed the first unit briefing for this new unit, so I am playing catch-up here and also trying to adjust to the returning and new Exchange students so there are unfamiliar faces present in the lecture for the first time.

How will students be informed of the observation/review?

Due to Kwame being off ill, the observation didn’t happen in-person. If he had attended I would have introduced him at the beginning and explained why he was present.

What would you particularly like feedback on?

I would really appreciate any feedback on any aspect that stands out to Kwame. I have been working quite hard to make these Year meeting engaging and a safe space for student participation so any feedback or ideas in these particular aspects would be welcomed.

How will feedback be exchanged?

Written feedback below or via our tutorial would be appreciated.

Part Two

Observer to note down observations, suggestions and questions:

Kwame Baah

As part of your session you tapped into the notion of belonging when you told to the students that you missed them the previous week. The impact of such affirmation creates collective association and cohesion in the group. My perception is that you are a seasoned teacher/ educator because you set the tone and schedule for the duration of the session with much detail. Every attending student was given context for how to engage in the project space, including with little to no familiarity.

I think the mention of the ‘happy cat’ was something useful for continuity of welcoming students to the session at different points and it would be interesting to understand how visiting students respond to it, especially because you are keen to build international networks. This could be a useful visual representation of embracing others. Stepping through possible activities and subsequent translations of end-products you supported student thinking for each requirement mentioned e.g. ‘traditional publication …but you can also interpret it much more widely’. A very useful way to get students to focus on their own decision pathways within a project.

I was particularly impressed by your catch-up resilience when let down by your tech during the session, but you were as calm as ever.  When you offered uncertain students extra support to get them on track it was a very engaging to see that for each 1-to-1 dialogue you comforted them. Lucky students!

Part Three

Observee to reflect on the observer’s comments and describe how they will act on the feedback exchanged:

Thank you to Kwame for this encouraging feedback. Whilst my intention in these meeting is always to be calm; my internal dialogue is often anything but, and it is really encouraging that Kwame reflected that I seemed calm outwardly when the AV set up started causing problems. AV issues are commonplace, and I often feel quite thrown by them, so I really value this element of Kwame’s feedback.

I am curious about the feedback around the “happy cat” and I’m interested to further explore the way this could come to represent embracing others and valuing difference. I am going to put some more thought into this, and the potential of building a lexicon of different images that act as reoccurring motifs, fulfilling a symbolic function within the Year meetings.

Happy NYan Cat by Cat Dark-Lak

Blog post 4 : Ambiguous Pedagogies, Uncertain Territories

Annie Davey’s (2016) article ‘International Students and Ambiguous Pedagogies within the UK Art School’ raises all sorts of questions about the assumptions at play underneath the fine art pedagogy prevalent in Chelsea and most art schools. I am not only involved in teaching some of these assumptions but also have been taught them myself, through my foundation (2000-01) undergraduate studies at Liverpool School of Art (2001-05) and then at Chelsea where I did a PGDip and MA in Fine Art (2010-11).

Actively not knowing is a central part of the way contemporary artistic practice is configured, drawing heavily on the legacy of conceptualism. My own approach has been influenced by contributing to a research group set up by Jacob Jacobsen to explore John Latham’s idea of AntiKnow (Jacobsen 2006), see images below.

Davey’s article draws on Austerlitz and I followed the research trail to read ‘Mind the Gap’ Austerlitz et al’s (2008) article. “Students entering higher education often seek ‘clarity’ but a central, although largely unspoken tenet of art and design pedagogy would appear to be the centrality of ‘ambiguity’ to the creative process.” [p.127 Austerlitz et al (2008)].

This quote echoed two conversations I recently had with students following their Unit 6 feedback. Both are engaged international students with English as their first language. Both had received B (very good under the UAL Level 5 Marking Matrix). Both were unhappy with this, and wanted to know exactly how to get an A. They wanted clarity and whilst at least one of them was dissatisfied with the ambiguity I was offering in return. “…For those students unfamiliar with the benefits of risk and for whom uncertainty feels far from necessary, productive state these implicit values can be met with confusion and diminished confidence” [Davey (2016) p.380].

There are invisible barriers at play. I’ve had a lot of positive feedback about the course from students, but I recently received some that evidenced that some students felt very much at sea in this ambiguity. I hosted an open meeting welcoming anyone who wanted to voice any frustrations or concerns, and it was illuminating. What became clear was that some students who have not benefited from an arts-based education prior to starting their BA, feel really lost by the ambiguous nature of what we are asking them to do.  

Perhaps one of the tasks is to fully conceptualise what our ambiguous pedagogy is, and to do this we must clearly define what we mean by ambiguity. “Rowland argues that there are two different kinds of ambiguity and makes the distinction between vagueness and uncertainty (Rowland 2003). This allows us to differentiate between not taking the process far enough to identify issues and possibilities (vagueness) and the recognition of multiplicity of routes and interpretations with porous boundaries (uncertainty)… There is also a danger of inauthentic ambiguity where there is a discourse of acceptance of diverse outcomes but beneath is a hidden curriculum open only to the privileged few.” [p.142 Austerlitz et al (2008)]. This is a very helpful distinction between vagueness and uncertainty, and one I will be taking forward as I develop the pedagogical frame for Year 2.

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References:

Austerlitz, Noam, Blythman, Margo, Grove-White, Annie, Jones, Barbara Anne, Jones, Carol An, Morgan, Sally, Orr, Susan, Shreeve, Alison and Vaughn, Suzi (2008) Mind the gap: expectations, ambiguity and pedagogy within art and design higher education. In: Drew, Linda, (ed.) The Student Experience in Art and Design Higher Education: Drivers for Change. Cambridge, Jill Rogers Associates Limited, pp. 124-148

Davey, A. (2016). International Students and Ambiguous Pedagogies within the UK Art School. International Journal of Art & Design Education, 35(3), pp.377–383. doi:https://doi.org/10.1111/jade.12124.

Flattimeho.org.uk. (2025). ANTIKNOW RESEARCH REPORT | Projects | Flat Time House. [online] Available at: https://flattimeho.org.uk/projects/publications/anti-know-research-report/ [Accessed 18 Mar. 2025].

Jakobsen, J. ed. (2006) ‘ANTIKNOW RESEARCH REPORT’ published by FlatTime Ho

Blog Post 3 : What do formal educational settings have to learn from alternative pedagogical spaces?

My own teaching practice is informed by over a decade of experience as an artist educator in museums, galleries and alternative education spaces such as PRUs (Pupil Referral Units). Most of these projects were about facilitating creative learning in unaccredited but deeply important ways. One of the most significant was Supersmashers, an after-school arts club for care-experienced children in partnership with social services at South London Gallery. I was the lead artist on this project for 2013-15, and it deeply impacted my teaching practice; developing pedagogies about inclusivity, materials-based enquiry and the importance of play. Now my energies are focused in H.E. I still want to bring some of the energy and vitality of these alternative creative learning spaces with me.

On the 11th of March I went to the book launch of Anna Colin’s ‘Alternative Pedagogical Spaces: from Utopia to Institutionalisation’, where Colin’s reflects on her own experiences of setting up and then running the alternative art school Open School East between 2013 – 2021.  

Before I go on, I do have a fundamental question about how appropriate it is for formal educational settings to borrow from these alternative contexts? Is it a form of colonisation, the co-opting of the outside by institutions? My motivation is that I still want to be about creating possibilities as a human being, a parent, an artist, and a ‘teacher’. Within the formal education context, we are still, supposedly, about experimentation and creating possibilities and I think there is much to learn from alternative education spaces.  As bell hooks (1994) writes,

The academy is not paradise. But learning is a place where paradise can be created. The classroom, with all its limitations, remains a location of possibility. In that field of possibility, we have the opportunity to labor for freedom, to demand of our­selves and our comrades, an openness of mind and heart that allows us to face reality even as we collectively imagine ways to move beyond boundaries, to transgress. This is education as the practice of freedom. (Ibid, p. 207)

At the book launch Anna in conversation with Cindy Sissokho reflected on the necessity of reconfiguring the ‘how’ of the institution and as part of that a reworking of the notion of time. Colin (2025) surmises Barbara Adam “linear time (clock time, machine time, synonymous with temporal efficiency) is indifferent to change and infinite insofar as it excludes the concept of becoming” [Ibid p.109-10]. Art school is precisely about the process of becoming, and as such we must find ways of reconfiguring this linearity of time into something more fluid, more multi-modal and more playful. Anna raised the question as to whether institutional bureaucratic slowness can be reappropriated as a slow practice, akin to garden time.

Biesta (2022) argues that education is a practice of cultivation, drawing on Dewey; “His [Dewey’s] argument is that ‘since growth is the characteristic of life, education is all one with growing; it has no end beyond itself” [Ibid p.31]. This way of thinking about education as an organic process of cultivation opens many rich possibilities that move beyond the limits of the institution.

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Bulbs springing up in my garden

References:

Biesta, G. (2021). World-Centred Education. Routledge.

Colin, A. (2025). Alternative Pedagogical Spaces: From Utopia to Institutionalization. MIT Press.

hooks, b (1994) Teaching to Transgress : Education As the Practice of Freedom, Taylor & Francis Group, ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/ual/detail.action?docID=1656118.
Created from ual on 2025-03-12 11:20:09.

Goldsmithscca.art. (2025). Goldsmiths CCA — Alternative Pedagogical Spaces: From Utopia to Institutionalization event page [online] Available at: https://goldsmithscca.art/event/alternative-pedagogical-spaces-from-utopia-to-institutionalization/ [Accessed 11 Mar. 2025].

Blog post 2 : Why is an Intersectional Feminist approach important in my role?

Over 80% of my Y2 cohort are female or identify as women. Many are trying to interrogate ideas in their practices that have a direct correlation to areas of feminist work; gender, identity, care, childhood, labour and community. Still, the majority would not describe themselves as feminist. They largely haven’t received any kind of feminist teaching and mostly lack a basic understanding of feminist thinking.

In the Representation of Women Artists in the UK (2021) several illuminating statistics are uncovered. The report details how, despite record numbers of women studying Art & Design at GCSE, A Level and undergraduate (much higher than the numbers of men, at 65%, 74% and 66%) there persist systemic gender inequalities within the art world. This is carefully evidenced. For example;

In 2021 just 36% of the artworks acquired by Tate were by women artists.

In 2021 only four new works entered the collection of the National Gallery, there was not a single work by a woman artist, a Black and Brown artist or a disabled artist

In 2021 majority of artists represented by London’s major commercial galleries are still men, at 67% – an increase of 2% from the previous year.

Over 95% of my students in Y2 are under the age of 25. 2024 research from Kings College London shows Gen Z men and women are the most divided on gender equality, compared to older generations. Whilst it is often assumed that the feminist project is somehow complete, these reports paint a regressive picture of widening gender inequality in attitudes, behaviour and in career progression. Shockingly, in 2024 police declared violence against women and girls (VAWG) a ‘national emergency’ in England and Wales. Recorded cases of VAWG increased by 37% between 2018 and 2023, running at 3,000 offences a day [Home Office (2024)] .

Against this backdrop and a socio-political imperative to re-centre feminist thinking, much feminist thought is directly relevant to fine art pedagogy in the way it rethinks the frame, opens alternative narratives and creates space to hold minioritised voices. Intersectionality is a central idea in this context, a term first coined by Kimberle Crenshaw [Crenshaw (1989)].  Intersectionality applies to class and sexuality, disability, and all the other Equality Strands and is a way of conceptualising and understanding the interlocking way different types of discrimination affect an individual. It’s a very helpful concept in helping me understand some of the systemic challenges facing some of my students.

These discussions are particularly relevant within a neo-liberal formulation of Higher Education. As Motta (2013) summarises,

“Neoliberal marketization in Higher Education marks an intensification, not a break, with the epistemological logics of patriarchal colonial capitalism… The ideal type neoliberal subject is grounded in individualization, infinite flexibility, precarious commitments, orientated toward survivalist competition and personally profitable exchanges. This produces a space of hierarchy, competition and individualism through the eradication of spaces of solidarity, care and community.” [ibid p.

I want to intentionally create spaces of solidarity and community amongst my student cohort and this is precisely why collective working, pedagogies of care and intersectional feminist thinking is a key part of my ethos in my role as 2nd Year Leader.

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References:

Bonham-Carter, C. (2021). Representation of Women Artists in the UK During 2021. [online] Available at: https://freelandsfoundation.imgix.net/documents/Representation-of-Women-Artists-in-the-UK-Research-in-2021.pdf. [17 Mar 2025]

Crenshaw, K. (1989). Demarginalizing the Intersection of Race and Sex: a Black Feminist Critique of Antidiscrimination Doctrine, Feminist Theory and Antiracist Politics. University of Chicago Legal Forum, [online] 1989(1), pp.139–167. Available at: https://chicagounbound.uchicago.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1052&context=uclf. [17 Mar 2025]

Home Office (2024). Violence against women and girls national statement of expectations (accessible). Department of Health. [online] 30 Apr. Available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/violence-against-women-and-girls-national-statement-of-expectations-and-commissioning-toolkit/violence-against-women-and-girls-national-statement-of-expectations-accessible. [17 Mar 2025]

Kings College London (2025). Gen Z men and women most divided on gender equality, global study shows. [online] King’s College London. Available at: https://www.kcl.ac.uk/news/gen-z-men-and-women-most-divided-on-gender-equality-global-study-shows [17 Mar 2025]

Motta, S (2013) ‘Pedagogies of Possibility: In, against and beyond the Imperial Patriarchal Subjectivities of Higher Education’ in Cowden, S, & Singh, G 2013, Acts of Knowing : Critical Pedagogy in, Against and Beyond the University, Bloomsbury Academic & Professional, New York. Available from: ProQuest Ebook Central. [16 March 2025].

Blog Post 5 : Critique of design critique…

Notes on ‘The design critique and the moral goods of studio pedagogy” (2019) Jason K. McDonald and Esther Michela, Brigham Youn University, USA

I feel uncomfortable with ‘design’ thinking which I see as being very task orientated, focused on usefulness and instrumentalised in some way… all things which I understand as making bad art – not always – but often. So straightaway I feel alienated by this article but I am interested in studio pedagogy so I’m going in…

p.2 ” The intrinsic ends of practice as defined as goods in the sense that, when achieved, people have experienced something that they recognise as good, and that allows them to define themselves as good practitioners, at least within the context of the cultural frameworks that lay claim upon them… And these goods are moral, both because practices have internal expectations of better or worse ways of accomplishing their own ends, and because pursuit of practice-specific goods is accompanied by “implications for others who lives are affected by what [that practice] bring(s) about”… I am instinctively not that comfortable about the idea of morality in the mix here, but of course it is in the mix, in every mix and the way it is contextualised here is helpful.

Summary from the article of the ‘moral goods’ of critiques:

FEEDBACK: getting feedback leading to the development of stronger work

INDEPENDENT THINKING: wrestling things out with your tutor, a space of challenging ideas together or in opposition

UNPREDICTABILITY: openness to new possibilities. Unplanned / unplannable teaching space.

IMPROVISATION: parallels to improv actors, improvising with students a conversation contingent on their input, ideas and work. This ideal of the “emergent environment” is important for the teacher interviewed, own sense of ‘self-cultivation’ – it’s a learning environment for staff too.

MECHANISM FOR INTERVENTION: a way of inputting into students’ process as it is underway as opposed to the beginning or end.

Interesting the description of th double-edged sword of critique: p.3 “a duality of potential help and potential harm”. This idea of harm is expanded on p.15 “if instructors think they know what is good for students, but their ideas are somehow limited or even inaccurate, they might overly emphasise their biased views and miss the bigger picture of what their practice might actually be able to accomplish”.

P.11 “…ONLY ONE WOMAN WAS INCLUDED AS A PARTICIPANT IN OUR STUDY. WHILE THIS IS CONSISTENT WITH THE PERCENTAGE OF WOMEN TEACHING AT THIS PARTICULAR UNIVERSITY….” Emphasise mine. Only 1 out of 6… I struggle with how I can take this article seriously at all… IN 2019… YIKES.

I wonder what differentiates feedback and critique? I would like the authors to define what they mean by critique as it isn’t contextualised enough for me.

References:

‘The design critique and the moral goods of studio pedagogy” (2019) Jason K. McDonald and Esther Michela, Brigham Youn University, USA